Wrench



Jan. 8, 1935. L, J. VETRANO 1,987,353

WRENCH Filed Feb. 28, 1933 ,m www,

Patented Jan. 8, 1935 UNITED STA-TES PATENT ICE. p

weissev WRENCH- Leon J. Vetrano, Houston, Tex. Application February 2s,1933serial/N016585953 f eclaims. (c1. 551-154) This inventionrelates to a wrench. Wardlyr relativev to the longitudinal axis ofi the An object of theA invention is to provide a handle-and-there is a bearing pin 13 extending wrench of' the` character described having a through'` said slotv and whose ends are anchored handle provided with a fixed jaw. and a movable torthesides of the fra-me; There is a iiat spring 5 jaw arranged to co-act with the fixed jaw to grip 14=` wit-hin the'frame- 4I and! which. isshapedl with 5 either round, polygonal or irregular objects, said agrip: Which is gripped; around the crosspin movable jaw being mounted in such novel man- 16 whose ends are anchored tothe sides of said ner that it will be securely maintained in gripframe. One end 17, of this spring bears against ping position, or may be adjusted to objects of the outer margin of the shank 9 and normally 10 diiierent sizes, or to released position. tends to hold the teeth 10, 11 in engagement 10 Another object is to provide a wrench of the with the outer sloping side 18, of the slot 12, character described having an adjustable frame bearing against the pin 16. The other end 19, on the handle with a jaw mounted therein, said of this spring is inwardly turned and engaged jaw and the handle having interengaging means in a notch 20 at the outer end of said shank 9 l5 with novel means for normally holding said inand the spring is under tension so that the rel5 terengaging means in interengaged relation. sistance of the two ends of the spring against Another object is to provide novel means for said shank will tend to force the shank inwardly, maintaining the frame against detachment fro-m relative to the frame, to maintain the teeth 10, the handle. 11, in engagement.

20 With the above and other objects in view this The jaw 8 is extended laterally, on each side 20 invention relates to certain novel features of beyond the frame 4 and is of approximately the construction, operation and arrangement of same width as that of the jaw 2 and the confrontparts, an example of which is given in this speciing faces of said jaws are toothed. cation and illustrated in the accompanying The forward end of the frame 4 has the prodrawing, whereimjections 21, 21 extending forwardly to abut the 25 Figure 1 shows a front view of the wrench. jaw 8 to minimize the friction between the frame Figure 2 shows a side view, partly in section. and the jaw 8 to conduce tothe free movement Figure 3 shows a cross sectional view, taken of the latter.

on the line 3 3 of Figure 2, and When the wrench is applied to an object to be Figure 4 shows a longitudinal sectional view turned and the handle then manipulated in a 30 taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2. direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 2 the Referring now more particularly to the drawjaws 2 and 8 will grip said object and as the power ing, wherein like numerals of reference desigis increased, the jaw8 will move inwardly relative nate similar parts in each of the figures, the to the handle and the coacting teeth 11, 10, will numeral 1 designates the handle of the wrench successively come into engagement forwardly, 35 whose operative end is formed with a fixed jaw 2 and the teeth 10 and 11 are so pitched that said and whose .other end forms the grip 3. movable jaw 8 will be securely held against slip- Slidably mounted on the handle there is the page relative to the handle. frame 4, sleeve-like in form, and approximately When it is desired to adjust the movable jaw rectangular in cross sectional contour. This the handle may be held and the frame 4 grasped 40 frame has the side gripping fingers 5, 5 integral and pulled outwardly toward the grip 3 and as therewith and having their free ends offset inthe pin 13 rides upon the face 18 the shank 9 and wardly to grip the handle and run in the side jaw 8 will be moved outwardly or away from the grooves 6, 6 thereof. handle and the teeth 11 will be disengaged from The movement of the frame along the handle the teeth 10 to permit such adjustment; or the 45 is limited by the engagement of said fingers with wrench may be held vertically, with its grip end the jaw 2 on one side and the stop '7 on the other. downwardly, and tapped on a stationary object Confronting the fixed jaw and mounted in said with a like result. frame there is a movable jaw 8 which has a flat lI'he frame may be mounted on the handle by shank 9'which is extended into said frame. The inserting the grip end of the handle through the 50 adjacent margins of the handle 1 and shank 9 frame and forcing the free ends of the ngers 5, have the intermeshing ratchet teeth 10, 11, re- 5 apart and moving the frame along the handle spectively, the latter of which are arcuately aruntil said lingers snap into the grooves 6, 6, and ranged. The shank 9 has an approximately said lingers will hold the frame in place during elliptical slot 12, whose major axis diverges forthe ordina-ry use of the wrench. 55

The drawing and description disclose what is now considered to be a preferred form of the invention by way of illustration only while the broad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A wrench comprising a handle having a fixed gripping jaw, a frame slidable on the handle, a movable gripping jaw confronting the fixed jaw and having an extended shank in the frame, said movable jaw and shank being movable relative to the frame, interengaging teeth on said handle and shank, a spring anchored to and housedwithin the frame and whose ends are free and operate against the shank to normally maintain said teeth engaged, said shank and frame having coacting parts effective to cause the disengagement of said teeth upon movement of the frame along the handle from the fixed jaw.

2. A wrench comprising a handle having a fixed gripping jaw, a frame slidable on the handle, a movable gripping jaw confronting the fixed jaw and having a shank extended into the frame and whose outer end is provided with a notch, said movable jaw and shank being movable relative to the frame, inter-engaging teeth on the handle and shank, a cross pin in the frame, a flat spring within the frame, shaped with a grip which engages around said cross pin, one end of said 'spring bearing against the shank and the other end of the spring engaging in said notch, said spring being maintained under tension and acting on said shank to normally maintain said teeth interengaging.

3. A wrench comprising a handle having a xed gripping jaw, `a frame slidable on the handle, a movable gripping jaw confronting the fixed jaw and having a shank extended into the frame, interengaging teeth on said handle and shank, said shank having a bearing face which diverges, relative to the longitudinal axis of the handle, toward the fixed jaw, a bearing pin anchored to the frame and bearing against said face, a ilexible spring anchored to the frame and having one end connected to said shank and normally under tension and tending to move said face outwardly toward the grip end of the handle and the other end of the spring bearing against the shank and tending to force the shank inwardly to maintain the teeth interengaged.

LEON J. VETRANO. 

